Germany bank robber on the run after hostage scare

At least one bank robber was on the run in Germany on Friday after sparking an hours-long standoff in which police initially feared that multiple hostages were being held inside the bank's vault room.

The situation ended when heavily armed commandos entered the bank and freed the two locked-up employees unharmed - only to realise that one or more perpetrators had likely fled the scene many hours earlier.

After questioning witnesses, police described a male suspect as about 1.80 metres (six feet) tall and wearing a white jumpsuit "similar to a beekeeper's suit", while not ruling out that there were multiple robbers involved.

They said the male attacker "ambushed an employee of a cash transport company at around 9:00 am (0700 GMT) and stole a container of cash from him" in the small western town of Sinzig near Bonn in Rhineland-Palatinate state.

"Subsequently, the perpetrator(s) locked two people, including the transport company employee, in a separate room within the bank branch," police said in a statement.

Officers, alerted by the bank's alarm system, rushed to the scene and surrounded the bank, among them commandos in helmets and ballistic vests carrying automatic weapons, as a heicopter circled above.

Police later conceded that "the perpetrator(s) likely left the premises before the first police officers arrived".

They added that, given the initially unclear situation, "the area was cordoned off and special forces were called in, in part to protect any potential witnesses inside the building".

A police spokesman told AFP at the scene that a search of the surrounding area had so far drawn a blank.

He added that the hunt for the suspects remained active, and the two people freed from inside the bank were receiving care.

Forensic technicians secured evidence, and more witnesses were being questioned. No information was released on the amount of money stolen.